Governor pushes green energy agenda

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday said the state will invest $200 million to encourage development of better storage technology for renewable energy produced by solar and wind.

The announcement was part of an energy agenda that aims at reducing state emissions of greenhouse gases, which an international scientific consensus cites as the cause of ongoing, man-made climate change.

The state's investment will promote the governor's goal of creating 1,500 megawatts of clean energy storage by 2025. That is roughly the equivalent of three fossil fuel-fired power plants.

Cuomo also announced the New York State Energy Research and Development authority will seek development proposals for at least 800 megawatts of off-shore wind farm projects in 2018 and 2019. That is in line with his plans to create 2,400 megawatts of such power by 2030.

"Without methods to store the energy and dispatch it when and where it is needed, New York will face challenges integrating and maximizing the benefits of these clean resources," the governor said.

Overall, the governor wants the state to generate half of its electrical needs from renewable sources by 2030.

— In cooperation with the governors of California and Washington state, recreating a climate science advisory panel that was recently eliminated on the federal level by the administration of President Donald J. Trump.

Brian Nearing, the Times Union's environmental and science reporter, has been with the newspaper since 2003.

He previously covered Albany city government and the school district for the Times Union, and during a 30-year career in journalism has worked at daily newspapers in the Capital Region, Ohio and Pittsburgh.